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A totally unique toy that is entertaining and educational

We received the Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube last year when my son was around 3-4 months old. I had never seen or heard of this toy before, or in fact the Munchkin brand, so I was intrigued to see what it was like.

- The Packaging -The Magic Cube comes in a quite open box so you can clearly see what the toy is like. The box is white with brightly coloured writing and the Munchkin brand name.

- The Magic Cube -The toy is essentially a cube shape with six sides. Each side is a bright colour and has a big button with the name and picture of a musical instrument on it. For example: yellow side is violin, green side is piano, pink side is harp, orange side is French horn, purple side is flute, blue side is orchestra. It is an attractive toy with appealing bright colours. When you switch on the toy it doesn't do anything straight away, you need to press a button. If you press a button the corresponding instrument will play a tune. You can press other instruments and then they will join in playing the song. You can add all of the instruments, adding and subtracting them as you like. The orchestra button will automatically have all the instruments play the song. If you continue to press the orchestra button the song will change. There are eight Mozart songs in total, including Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Each song lasts around 30-40 seconds. Each side of the cube has a light that flashes in time to the music if that particular instrument is playing. The cube requires 3 AA batteries to operate, these are easy to insert but you do need a screw driver.

- Playing With the Toy -When we first received this my son didn't understand about pressing the buttons but he still enjoyed watching us press the buttons and he liked listening to the music. By five months old he had got the hang of it and loved pressing the buttons himself and then hearing the tunes that played as a result. This toy was particularly great as he learnt to sit up. It was a brilliant toy to put in front of him to keep him occupied so he wouldn't fall back. Now he is 11 months old he still loves playing with this. He will sit and press the buttons but he also likes to roll it over and pick it up as it is light enough that he can do this. I like the educational elements of this toy. It teaches children about individual instruments but also how a group of instruments can play together to create a song. It also helps develop motor skills by encouraging the baby to press the buttons themselves. It is a very safe toy to play with because the corners are rounded and there are no sharp edges. I like this toy more than most of my son's other toys because it is more grown up/less babyish than most of the others. I find a lot of all singing all dancing toys can look over the top and tacky but this one doesn't at all. The songs are much more pleasant for adult ears than most toys too. I also like the uniqueness of this toy as I haven't come across anything else like it.

- Age Range -This toy is recommended for 0+. While there is no reason why you couldn't give it to a baby younger than three months, I don't think my son would have been very interested before this point and he didn't really get the hang of it until he was four or five months old. I think my son will enjoy playing with the Magic cube for a few months yet as he is showing no signs of getting bored of it.

- Price and Availability -The recommend retail price for this toy is £15.99 but you can buy one on Amazon for £13.22. I think these are reasonable prices compared to other musical toys of a similar size, especially considering how much my son has enjoyed playing with it.

- Would I recommend? -I would definitely recommend this toy and I already have to several friends with babies. My son has really enjoyed playing with it and I like the educational element and the not too irritating songs. Overall a brilliant toy at a reasonable price.